'D' notes: Play calls, safeties and Revis

After being responsible for most of the playcalling on defense last year, coordinator Mike Pettine acknowledged that Rex Ryan will be more involved with those duties in 2012.

"We used the word collaboration and that's the way we do it. There are some opponents that I have a better feel for, that I'll do the bulk of it and vice versa. Sometimes it's during a game, we'll switch it in game, we'll always talk and have a plan for it," Pettine said. "I think that's the strength of what we do is that we have the ability to bounce calls off of each other. When the offense is up, almost have like a gameplan meeting over the headset. ... We bounce it back and forth and I think it's worked for us."

After Ryan was responsible for the calls in his first two seasons with the Jets, he ceded the duties to Pettine last year. In the offseason, Ryan said he was going to be more involved with the all units of the team, including the defense and the playcalling. Pettine believes Ryan has been more involved with the offense and special teams so far than the defense.

The coordinator added that calling the game is sometimes like being on autopilot as there are predetermined calls and it's just a matter of reading that play off a script. He added that the team didn't feel it had a broken system so they weren't looking for an overhaul.

"I think that's a little overblown," Pettine said of Ryan's involvement. "It's basically what it's been. It will depend on the opponents and sometimes it's in-game. Sometimes it's I'll take first or second down, he'll take third down or vice versa or 'Hey, it's a two minute, you take it.' We're ego free when it comes to that."

SCALE DOWN: As the Jets try to implement new players into their defensive system, particularly at safety, the team has scaled down some of their packages. Safeties LaRon Landry and Yeremiah Bell were signed this offseason while rookie Josh Bush is in the mix. Rookie defensive end Quinton Coples also will be seeing playing time in the trenches.

"I think a big part of what we wanted to do was get the new safeties acclimated and I think we've done a great job of that," Pettine said. "Between Dennis Thurman and Jimmy O'Neil, Brian Smith, I think they've put in a lot of extra time with those guys getting them up to speed, especially LaRon, who was not here and was rehabbing off site in the offseason. A credit to those players as well that they've put in the time. That to me was the biggest concern, getting those guys up to speed and we have a lot of things that have some moving parts."

REVIS-JOHNSON:Darrelle Revis will get his shot at Stevie Johnson after the Bills receiver caught 11 passes for 159 yards and one touchdown in two games against the Jets last year. Bell believes Revis will have revenge on his mind.

"As a competitor in this league, anytime anybody does something special and people make a big deal out of it, you want to go out and shut it down," Bell said. "As a player, we tend to take matchups as a personal challenge."

SPONSORED HEADLINES

Comments

You must be signed in to post a comment

Need an account?

Already have an account?

You are fully responsible for the content you post. Content that includes profanity, personal attacks or antisocial behavior (such as "spamming" or "trolling"), or other inappropriate content or material will be removed. We reserve the right to block any user who violates our terms of use, including removing all content posted by that user.

MORE FROM ESPN NEW YORK

Check out ESPN New York, your destination for sports coverage in the Big Apple.